Flu season's death toll quickly rising, officials say

Though it's not very wintery outside these days, this year's winter flu season has taken a turn for the worse, state health officials said Friday.

California health officials said that 45 people have died so far in this year's flu season, including two babies.

That figure represents an increase of 38 deaths since last week and does not include 50 more deaths which, after investigation, could be deemed flu-related, said Gil Chavez, deputy director of the California Department of Public Health Center for Infectious Diseases.

"From what we can tell it's looking like we're getting more cases of severe influenza than we normally do most years," said Michael Stacey, Solano County chief medical officer and deputy health officer.

One Solano County resident, a Vallejo man, is the first reported influenza-associated death locally this season, the county announced earlier this week.

The Vallejo man was in his 40s and had chronic medical conditions, health officials said. His death was also related to H1N1, also known as the swine flu and, when reported, was the 16th flu-related death in the Bay Area.

In Solano, seven people have been hospitalized in intensive care units after coming down with the flu, officials said.

In Napa County, 19 people have been hospitalized after contracting the flu and one person has died, county officials there reported Friday.

Meanwhile, state officials said it appears the flu season is peaking early. "So far this appears to be a pretty severe season in terms of looking at mortality as a measurement of severity," Chavez said. "What we don't know is when this is going to abate."

Among counties experiencing flu related deaths, Sacramento County has seen the most with five deaths, according to the state. Los Angeles County has had four deaths. The state figures do not, in some cases, reflect what's been reported on the local level, state officials said.

State and county health officials urge people get vaccinated to ward off the illness. The flu season lasts through the end of April, Stacey said.

Solano County is holding a flu clinic 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Fairfield. A similar clinic may be held in Vallejo later, a county health employee said.

In Solano, Stacey said medical facilities are seeing an increase in the flu and some of those cases are hitting people hard. One factor is that the most predominant flu strain is the H1N1 virus, the flu which caused a pandemic and widespread illness and concern in 2009, Stacey said.

"It may just be something that has to do with that particular flu that causes more severe illness," he added.